So the show goes a whole year with guest hosts, some painful like Dr. Oz, getting the audience all stirred up. And it ends like this.
All along it was a Faustian contract because all the attention you get from the on-air audition process comes back to bite you when you ultimately make a decision and 50% or 70% of your fans are pissed because they wanted someone else. Like I said last week, had they just installed a new host after Alex died there would have been an adjustment period and eventually the new guy would just be “the guy.”
TV networks used to air all their failed pilots in the summer. They had paid for them and this allowed them to recoup something while filling summer space. We in the industry used to call it “Failure Theatre.” One of the reasons networks discontinued the practice was people were complaining that the failed pilots were better than the shows they picked up. Networks learned not to air their dirty laundry.
So now we get more guest hosts. Here are my suggestions, Sony: OJ Simpson, Bill Cosby, Andrew Cuomo, and R Kelly.
Good luck Sony, when Pat Sajak leaves WHEEL OF FORTUNE. Maybe Harvey Weinstein could be let out for a work program?
65 comments :
Mike Richards is his own special case and deserves to be gone, but I've always said you don't want to be the person replacing a legend, you want to be the replacement's replacement. You want to be Katie Couric, not Debra Norville. You want to be Arsenio Hall, not Joan Rivers.
Or maybe just don't fire him? The story would have lasted a few days, and then it goes away.
Him being a relatively new EP angling for the hosting job always felt icky to me and I'm sure some of the staff felt the same way, who tipped all these stories to the press right?
I'm fine with an array of guest hosts for now
I never understood whether the guest hosts were actually auditioning for the permanent hosting job or filling in until the new host could take over when the new season began in September. Sony never gave a consistent answer.
At NBC we called it "Garbage Can Theater". I suggested a disheveled animated peacock drag a title card across the screen and hold his nose in disgust. But this would have been insulting to the Supplier and Creator. My fear is the contractual fix was in from the start with Sony guaranteeing the Jeopardy or Wheel hosting gig to Richards and the auditions were stunts to find a Weekend Host. Sony screwed the pooch. Don't ask the question if you're not prepared to live with the audience's answer.
Maybe someone at Sony did look at this and thought it was no big deal. The article at The Ringer that started all this sure sounded like some mild comments. You would not be hired for anything based on your podcast, Ken, under this author's standards.
'Women dress like hookers at Halloween'
Lady who has taken up baking will end up getting real fat she won't fit thru doors.
Used 'midget' and 'retard' several times(at least I think those were the words).
Asked women on the show if they had naked pictures of themselves on their phones, shortly after IPhone hack of celebrities.
Not exactly Don Imus here.
The article didn't call for him to be fired, just said there was some controversial statements. Now the author is hinting that she wants to see Richards removed as executive producer as well.
He lasted less than 1 Scaramucci!
You'd think Sony would have well and truly learned from their past mistakes about vetting people before job hiring after their very first Hollywood hire -
Jon Peters.
I'm glad I'm retired. If I was to be held responsible for something I said or did in my past unrelated to my work or even only a little bit "that seemed like a good idea at the time" that wasn't criminal but just stupid or not well thought out, I would have lost my job countless times or never been employed at all. I suspect the same is true for many, many people. I hope those responsible for Richards' removal have been Angels all their lives. Hypocrisy is a bitch. The automatic remedy nowadays of firing someone isn't a remedy at all, it's a punishment for something by someone the person wasn't responsible to at the time.
Despite the fact this is only a freaking game show and not world diplomacy (where there's no accountability anyway), this becomes something that mars a career, if not ruin it. Instead, admonish Richards that going forward, he's operating under a different set of expectations. I know that makes sense, which is why it won't happen.
After hiring Richards, I thought they said that they didn’t really consider anyone who couldn’t take the job full-time, which appeared to be most of the fill-in hosts they used.
So that was all a ratings stunt apparently?
And now we will get another one?
Well, I guess LeVar Burton has another chance now to at least guest host "Jeoparty!" again...
He deserves to be booted. He also made insulting comments about Asian and Jewish people. Maybe there should be better background checks. lol There is a rumor that Jack Morris is interested in the job...oh never mind.
The final (latest?) revelations from The Ringer were really only the proverbial straw in this case. Mike Richards's failings here are legion. His long term lack of professionalism and the way he put his thumb on the scale for himself are not what I think most people are looking for in a JEOPARDY! host.
His ineptitude as EP -- doing what was best for him rather than what was best for the show, and thus Sony's bottom line -- ought to be enough to have them walking him from the premises. I can only assume the arrangement is he can stay on in name only for some time to save a little bit of face, and then head for the exits. That, or Sony really is as stupid as I think they are.
For the one supposed "pro" in the guest host rotation, I found him to be mediocre at best, and utterly cloying at worst; his feeble sign-off each day attempting to cash in on Alex Trebek's legacy was cringeworthy. Some of the other guest hosts were terrible in their own way (sorry LeVar Burton fans). Some were good, some were great. I have a lot of problems with Mayim Bialik's views on certain things, and I didn't expect to find her to be a good host, but I was pleasantly surprised and if I am being honest, she was one of the top couple.
I have never been part of the Ken Jennings for host crowd. I like the guy, respect him greatly, and understand why the fanbase adores him. I just don't think he's got the voice for it and that's not something you can just learn. But, he'd be a lot better than Mike Richards and he has the one advantage of being someone who could follow the legend without grumbling from the fan base.
Mike Richards seems like someone you see a lot of in Hollywood. Back-room schemer. The irony of this is that if he had just cooled his heels a bit and waited for Pat Sajak to retire (he can't stay there forever), he could have probably slid right onto WHEEL OF FORTUNE and no one would have noticed. Except maybe Vanna when she had to wear that two-piece bathing suit.
Maybe Buzzy Cohen will come back into the picture.
Anyone who thought this dolt was a good choice belongs in the same white, good old boys club that hired him. POC shouldn’t be the ones to save Sony’s asses when they had the opportunity the first time. .
Mayim Bialik, who is still set to host special editions and spin-offs, she is an anti-vaxxer ....
It can't be long before Richards "steps down" as executive producer. If all that stuff was bad enough to get him fired as host (it was), then why is it tolerable for the important EP role? And if he gets anywhere near the continued auditions (why?) then Sony moguls are even dumber than we thought. Just give the job to Mayim or Jennings or Faber and move on already. That stuff about wanting the Jeopardy hosting to be the chosen one's primary job was just a cover for giving the job to Richards. For gosh sakes, it's 35 work days a year.
Claire McNear's piece at The Ringer made Richards's podcast sound like a lame imitation of Howard Stern, and there's probably a reason Stern was never a candidate to succeed Trebek. JEOPARDY! relies on its wholesome image as much as it does on contestants' ability to summon up odd facts. Now Mayim Bialik is also being criticized for an op-ed she wrote in The New York Times about how she avoided sexual harassment by dressing and behaving modestly. She was cute in her BLOSSOM days but it may not have been a matter of long skirts alone. Anyway, no one is ever going to please all JEOPARDY! fans -- devotees of LeVar Burton admit he occasionally used cocaine years ago. Can we all just relax? It's a game show.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/opinion/mayim-bialik-feminist-harvey-weinstein.html
God help anyone vying for the Jeopardy gig who's ever use the word "thighs" in mixed company.
Seriously, why hasn't anyone approached Bob Costas for this? He's always been my number one choice.
Fred Said
Mayim Bialik, who is still set to host special editions and spin-offs, she is an anti-vaxxer ... This is not really true. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/jeopardy-host-mayim-bialik-says-shes-not-anti-vaxx Of course you can take this for what it's worth. But I don't think she came out and said vaccines were terrible or that they caused autism. I would not hold this against her as to hosting jeopardy. As for Richards, I am really hating cancel culture. I am against censorship which is happening to people on the left and the right. He did not commit a felony. I agree with Don Kemps post. Some artists are just terrible human beings. I get it if people don't want to watch the Cosby Show or Woody Allen, or any other number of writers, painters etc. If they had all been canceled we would have none of their work. It probably goes for athletes as well. Of course some have been canceled, like Rose, Clemens and Bonds. Perhaps Rose does he most because of the gambling on baseball. I have to wonder if Ty Cobb would have been banned from being voted into the HOF. Of course I don't think people who have said or done terrible things in the past should be given a pass. Even criminals get a 2nd and some time more than that to become an honest citizen.
A few of you are making this sound like a witch hunt fueled by "cAnCeL CuLtUrE".
There's a difference between making certain comments in mixed company vs. on a podcast. With the Price is Right lawsuits, a lot of things went on record from his time there as well. The show had more controversy in the last 37 weeks than its entire 37 years, in the current format. With crap hitting the fan at breakneck speed, what point did Sony say enough is enough?
Anyway, he was a decent host, but they had so many other options like Mayim, Ken, or Anderson. Sony could've avoided all of this by not hiring him in the first place. He had a history of creating an uncomfortable environment. He's obviously not the first or the last, but again this could've been avoided.
Also, I miss unsold pilot season.
Love your suggestions for future guest hosts. When I was at FOX I suggested using Phil Spector as a guest judge. We would just set up a monitor next to the panel. Great minds.
This was always a ratings ploy and they will con the public again.
It was never Alex Trebek, it was the tenor of his voice and they can find that again without all the nonsense.
For readers' possible enjoyment:
11 YOUTH-TARGETTED TV SITCOM FAILURES 1977-79
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gafI33FeJHg
It reminds me of that "Two Many Cooks" video that Ken posted a while back.
At this point, JEOPARDY needs to scrape itself up off the floor build up again. This has been a fiasco, and they need to start from square one. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
Just do it over, guys.
I'm sorry but anti-semitism is never OK and at the time he made his podcast, it was common knowledge that with the internet, whatever you say in a public forum and can come back to haunt you.
Really, a robot is your only safe choice. Just track down the same team who built Gene Rayburn and you're good.
The fascinating thing is that Richards already had a big blotch from the sexual harassment cases at The Price Is Right, but still was hired as executive producer in the first place.
Friend Hagerty is right. I've quoted it before, but when PBS asked Russell Baker to succeed Alistair Cooke on Masterpiece Theater, he said he wanted to succeed whoever succeeded Cooke. He took it on and did fine, partly because he was NOT a TV person, so no one really expected him to be perfect on camera.
Now, THAT said, a couple of reminders:
1. When Jeopardy returned in 1984, a good number of people thought Art Fleming was irreplaceable and weren't thrilled with the new guy. He did ok.
2. Said new guy hadn't exactly hosted a lot of intellectual discussions before Jeopardy, and I believe occasionally made a public statement that caused some issues--and I can recall many who felt that he could be condescending to contestants. That doesn't mean Trebek wasn't a GREAT host. He was. It also doesn't mean his actions sank to the level to which Richards had sunk.
Joe Buck quoted Alex Trebeck as saying something to the effect of 'Jeopardy is not about the host it's about the contestants'. When Alex Trebeck became the host he had been the host of High Rollers, a favorite game show of mine during my college years. He was a professional highly skilled game show host rather than a TV or movie star trying to be good at a different occupation. There must be some professional game show hosts available who would fit in perfectly or maybe a big time radio announcer who has the skills. I think Richards came out on top at Jeopardy because he was a pro game show guy and since he wasn't a TV star the focus remained on the contestants. There must be more like him walking around at the network. Maybe they could try out a few.
He was an awful choice. Being the EP, it looked like the fix was in. The Jeopardy and Wheel combo makes a fortune. You would think they would have vetted him completely before giving him the job. Now he stays on as EP which further tarnishes the brand. Mess.
So the Mike Richards era of hosting JEOPARDY is over. That lasted… one day of taping. My question is who vets these guys?
It seems like the Executive Producer Mike Richards vetted hosting candidate Mike Richards, and he thought that guy was pretty cool.
I'm also guessing Richards' had the idea of running "celebrity guest hosts" because it meant running out people (like Robin Roberts) who weren't going to leave their day jobs... and so he wouldn't have to compete against actual hosts who could have beaten him out for the gig.
You’re omitting and downplaying his remarks about Jews, women, people on food stamps— (did you like his emergency govt loan he got w our tax dollars, of a small company hes “CEO” of, btw? Cool)— why? Does the accountability for a man from Pepperdine who freely spoke his man and exposed his taste and character bother you?
https://www.theringer.com/tv/2021/8/18/22631299/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-search-process-past-comments
To be honest, the vetting should have been done when they were looking to replace Harry Friedman as EP. The article talks about the conflicts of interest in the hosting search, how the staff didn't have a say because Mike Richards controlled everything, and how morale was completely destroyed.
Personally, I think she saves the best of the worst for the podcast which he disparages women, and this is after the lawsuits. Heads should roll at Sony for this disaster. We should start with CEO Anthony Vinciquerra and Sony TV President and Ravi Ahuja the TV President.
In the wake of Alex Trebek's death, I would have not cancelled all November tapings and instead called in Ken Jennings on very short notice to host. I would also give him the job at least through the end of the season and decide who would host from there.
BTW: Here is Mike Richards audition tape from The Price is Right
https://youtu.be/OoQpiQYESgE?t=30
I think the decision to dedicate two-thirds of a season to what was represented as a "host audition search" (rather than immediately choose a new host) is purely and simply a result of EP Richards' influence. Plenty of material in the Ringer investigative article concerned the goings-on during the "audition" process; Richards himself has not addressed this issue in his statements, and no one has refuted the assertions in the article. If the host doesn't ascend to that position fairly, Jeopardy loses its reputation for fair play.
I'm grateful that the lawsuits and podcast recordings were there to be found, otherwise he might have gotten away with it. Now he just has to quietly resign as EP, as Mark Evanier already suggested.
Regarding failed pilots, I will ask again what I asked here a few years ago: Has anyone seen This Week in Nemtin? Apparently it was a failed half-hour comedy pilot from the 1970-71 season; Harlan Ellison reviewed it and made it seem pretty hilarious (reprinted in The Other Glass Teat). Featuring Ed Asner, Carl Reiner, and other funny people.
Careers, reputations are ruined forever because your worst moment on record defines you now. No apology or contrition can save you from the online comments/Twitter mobs. As if all these anonymous hecklers are living their lives like saints. We live in the stupidest of times.
Serious question, Ken. Why don't you audition? You've got tons of presenting experience, you're funny, and you know the show inside out. And the only thing anyone could dig up from the past is Mannequin 2, and that wasn't your fault.
Call your agent to get on it Monday morning!
Mike Richards should keep posting from Ringer owner Bill Simmons's old stuff.
Among the mild stuff is 'Grading the Wimbledon Babes'.
Take it from me kid, people suck.
I guess the part that confuses me the most is reverting back to guest hosts. Ken Jennings' ratings were respectable probably because everyone wanted to see what would happen after Trebek. With the exception of a couple of blips, the ratings steadily declined during the guest host experiment. And now they're going to continue it? Just bring Ken back until you decide who the next host will be.
Blaming "cancel culture" for every public downfall is a little like insisting Al Capone's only crime was messing up his 1040 form. There's usually -- not always, but usually -- an existing ton of straws on the camel's back.
We're in an age, or maybe just a moment, where being rich and powerful isn't quite the golden ticket it used to be. And even now, if you'e valuable enough to the richer and more powerful, you can get away with a lot. Bill O'Reilly and Rogers Ailes fell only after hush money and tough lawyers kept them at the top of the world for years, and Epstein cultivated insanely powerful men.
Right now it seems to take less to knock down a fake idol, but it still takes a lot. I give you #45 and company.
Whether Mike stepped down as host, he needs to quit or be fired, as EP. He wrecked the JEOPARDY! BRAND.
There was a loss of institutional memory with Friedman, Glenn Kagan, John Lauderdale, and Maggie Speak all leaving, plus Alex dying. And MR, caring mostly by MR, filled the void.
BTW, MR also called his colleague, on-air, a “booth ho” and “booth slut.” Hostile workplace.
His job at Price Is Right: a hostile workplace.
Yeah, I remember seeing Trebek after he was on High Rollers, and I wondered whether he'd get better. He did.
CMM, I said the same thing early on. I had suggested WATSON as a guest host. It couldn't have been much worse than some of the human (is it O.K. to use that word?) hosts. Although even a computer may have something in its past. Maybe it has Chinese chips. Or one of its programmers touched a girl's breast in high school. Who knows, if scifi has taught us anything, it's that an artificial intelligence could possibly develop antisocial traits before they take over.
M.B.
Following up on my thoughts about how people wanna blame cancel culture...
When I was in college, I remember reading about a woman who badmouthed her boss on her blog. Word got back to the boss, and they fired her. That was around 2003, but the story stuck with me.
Yes, people use the Internet and social media to voice their opinions on things, good or bad. And sometimes people have a lapse in judgment. And while I am not a fan of people dredging up old material at times, on a respected show like this, I get it. Being a decent person is not a hard task.
@ Lemuel
My GOD, those opening credits are LONG - I had forgotten. Losing a minute+ of show time. That's why I love "Frasier." There is even content in the closing theme song credits, on that show.
I only remember "Angie" and "Making It." The latter had the hit title song (peaked at #5), sung by series star David Naughton. (And yes, I had the 45.)
In general...I have already commented on the Richards debacle. It's 2021. Anyone in the entertainment industry should know to watch what they say/post - we've had the publicly accessible Internet for a few decades. This "cancel culture" phrase is most often chanted loudly by people who themselves have something they're ashamed of having said. We've all done things we wish that we hadn't, but most of us aren't producing/hosting a hugely popular game show. He's had a career in the industry. Duh.
Sony is like a crappy landlord, content to bank the rent and refusing to maintain the property. A valuable property like Jeopardy! should have had a list of possible successors in place right after Alex first became ill. I guarantee Merv Griffin, recalling the Rolf Benirschke fiasco, would not have let this go so far off the rails. As to Wheel Of Fortune, Richards' cloying personality would have matched up better as a successor to Sajak. But Vanna White filled in for Sajak well during his recent illness, so she could at least be a transitional choice.
@ Smithee
Mike Richards has a history of horrific and sexist remarks. He also made remarks against jews, the poor, and took an emergency government loan. This isn't like Ken Jennings tweeting about how a Star Wars fan has died after seeing "The Force Awakens" before it premiered in theaters, and how it was a bad omen. Nor is it about Chris Rock who was forced to resign from the Oscars because he said something offensive.
As I said before, they should have stuck with Ken Jennings from the start. This includes the cancelled November tapings. Given the route taken, they should have not included any newsreaders like Anderson Cooper or Robin Roberts. Instead, they should have gotten some 20-somethings into the mix and included Alex Faust and maybe Jason Benetti for about 4 to 6 weeks each since they went the guest host direction.
Chris Rock never resigned from the Oscars, that was Kevin Hart.
Somewhere, Michael Richards is thankful that he is no longer the most obnoxious person with his name.
@Michael Hagerty
> I've always said you don't want to be the person replacing a legend, you want to be the replacement's replacement.
I hate to break it to you, but this isn't original to you. I remember it being said in 2006 when Howard Stern left FM radio. They say that CBS intentionally hired David Lee Roth to replace him in New York knowing he would tank. I'm sure the saying is even older than that,
Also, are you the Michael Hagerty who was on Lucky Louie?
I'm sure they knew all about his past; they either didn't think it was a big deal or they thought it would blow over. That's why so many people have gotten away with this stuff for so long.
I've come down with a case of Guest Host Fatigue. It was a curiosity at first but that train has passed. The show is no longer about the game but a critique-fest of the hosts.
Sony keeps paying lip service with the "Dedicated to Alex Trebek - Forever in our Hearts, Always our Inspiration" graphic. What a bunch of rubbish. I believe Alex Trebek would be mortified to see what they've done to the show. Enough is enough. Fire Mike Richards as EP. Select a new, permanent host and be done with it.
They should get Tom Hanks. It's only 35 work days a year? Then yes, Tom Hanks. He's the nicest and nicest-smartest man on the planet.
@ Darwin's Ghost
I knew it was one of those two. I don't think it matters if Kevin Hart or Chris Rock said something on the shocking side, you can't cancel them just because they are comedians.
The podcast remarks were puerile, but apparently that was the image he chose to present to the public in 2014. What upsets me is that Mr. Richards used his EP position to grab the hosting job for himself. Originally he wasn't even on the guest host list. He maneuvered to get himself inserted as an "emergency substitute" and then made sure the press knew he only had a few days to prepare.
I can't see him staying on as Jeopardy! EP- especially if Ken Jennings ends up getting the hosting job.
RIchards comments were “horrific”? Really? That’s your bar for horrific? Trump is horrific. What’s going on in Afghanistan is horrific. The shootings and murders in cities like Chicago are horrific.
Sony did the right thing by forcing Richards out of the hosting job. He didn’t disclose the blogs to them and damaged the brand. I’d fire him as producer, too, for his part in bungling the host search. And I’d fire the person above him who made the final choice. But let’s keep things in perspective here; the rush to destroy the guy (that article The Ringer is a disgraceful, unbalanced hit piece) is a sad commentary on our society.
I want to see a professional broadcaster in place as host. Someone who has experience in unscripted television. That’s why people like George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, and David Faber did so well. Ken Jennings did a good job for an amateur as did Aaron Rodgers. But they are not experienced broadcasters and it showed.
It’s surprising to me that they need to go back to using guest hosts. Wasn’t there another guest host from earlier this year who tested well and can do the job? Just more evidence that Richards was the choice from the beginning and the other guest hosts weren’t serious contenders.
Several liberals online are against Mayim becoming the permanent host because of some remarks about vaccines. Although she has received the Covid-19 vaccine, Mayim has some serious questions about vaccines in general, big Pharma, and money. Among other things, she doesn't think children should be vaccinated against hepatitis. Are we at a point where no one is allowed to say ANYTHING against vaccines?
Friday question for Ken, after the recent post about laugh tracks vs. live audiences: I've noticed that on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, they sometimes let the audience laughter go on forever. The actors just stand there frozen until the big laughs finally die down. On other shows with live audiences, the producers have said they would edit down the prolonged laughs, presumably for better flow and a little more realism. Do you know if there was there a conscious decision on RAYMOND (by Ray or Phil Rosenthal) to just show the full laughs, for as long as they lasted?
This just in. Conservative radio host Phil Valentine has died of COVID-19. He had made a parody song mocking the vaccine and the vaccinated. And the other week, Republican Scott Apley died of COVID-19. He had made a parody rap song mocking the vaccine and the vaccinated.
You know, I feel there's a pattern here but I can't quite put my finger on it.
I am so tired of Liberals this, Conservatives that, the Right is bad, the Left is bad. Why can't we all just get along as the world ends ?
I think I am just going to skip the show from now on.
For those who didn't know: The five shows Ken Jennings recorded will air as scheduled starting Sept. 13. That means we'll find out if Matt Amodio will still be champ by Ken's last show...
Ooops, I meant Mike Richards!
I understand Ross the Intern may be available.
Regarding the guest host process, the Seattle Mariners as you may know, did this after the sudden death of Dave Niehaus (the day it rained tears in Seattle). The difference, I think was that it was not presented as an audition, but only as a way to transition from a legend who was beloved and had been with the team since it's inception to a new voice.
I remember that was real cool to hear Ken on the broadcast again. https://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-open-letter-to-seattle.html
Horrible and horrific are two different words.
I wish we could have an equivalent of someone like Don Rickles host the show for a week. (I don't know who would be a contemporary example. Andrew Schulz, maybe?) Or just a comedian who doesn't care who he offends. Bill Burr, or Dave Chappelle. Just to have some fun. "Damn, that was a dumb answer. You said your parents were from India?" May as well have an anti-Trebek, since they've screwed up this whole search for a host.
you asked (jokingly?) who vets these guys - The Washington Post has the answer to that question.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/jeopardy-mike-richards-journalism-media-claire-mcnear/2021/08/23/c91d090c-040d-11ec-a266-7c7fe02fa374_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR06V8uHpGYsGMrr1AENZ0qtdHGBt9nAoOlf55K7L13xv6PMiE_Qx47U0t4
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